Brother
by pikapikatchu
Summary: Greg gets a surprise visit from somebody he never wanted to meet, and he is faced with a decision he doesn't want to face. Are things really what they seem?
1. Chapter 1

**Happy New Year, guys! Hope you'll have a great 2018!**

 **It's been a while since I felt in the mood to upload a new story, but here it finally is. Hope you enjoy it! Leave me a Review if you like, I really appreciate your opinion :)**

* * *

"...Next thing I know, she's sitting on my couch completely naked!" officer Spencer said excited as he told Greg a story he claimed had happened last night.

Greg was in the middle of investigating a crime scene and couldn't stand to listen to Spencer's macho stories any more. "Y-You know what?" he said unnerved. "How about you go outside and lend Nick a hand?"

"...Nick? Outside?"

"Yeah, he's checking out where the murderer came in. I'm sure he'll appreciate you helping him and... entertaining... him with your stories." Normally he wouldn't feel good about sending Spencer to annoy Nick, but he was angry with his friend and therefore didn't mind today.

"...Don't you appreciate...?"

Greg quickly added, "...It's getting a little tricky and I need to concentrate, so..."

"Oh. Okay. Sure. I'll catch up with you later, alright?"

"Sure," Greg replied with a sigh. After the officer finally left him alone in the bedroom in this big house in Henderson, he walked over to the dead body David had already processed an hour ago. He was finally able to dedicate his time to this poor man who had lost his life in here tonight. He wasn't much older than Greg himself and was now lying there next to the bed with a gunshot wound to his once handsome face, his hair stained with the blood that had formed a pool on the floor. The CSI started taking pictures and looking for an ID, but the dead man didn't have one on him. He put his camera down as he started to take a closer look on the bed. The covers had been torn halfway off the bed and a pillow was lying next to the body on the floor.

"Who the hell is that?" a man asked as he made his way into the bedroom.

Greg startled. "...Excuse me, you can't be in here. Who are you?"

"This is my house!" he yelled desperately. "I'm Lee Price."

Greg had no idea how he got in the house without any officer stopping him, but he needed him to get out. "Sir, I'm with the crime lab. We're here to investigate this murder... You need to wait outside."

Price ignored Greg completely and walked a few steps closer to look at the victim. "Who is he? What's he doing in my house?!"

"Mr. Price, please." Greg guided him back quite gently. "You're contaminating the scene."

"What happened in here? ...Oh my god. Where's Chelsea? Is she alright?"

"An officer will explain everything to you..." Greg yelled for Spencer but he didn't respond.

"...I know him."

"You do?" Greg asked interested. He didn't want Price in the house, but he did want to find out who the victim was. "Do you know his name?"

"...That whore! I'm gonna kill her!" Price suddenly yelled, shoving Greg to the side to reach the night stand. While doing that, he stepped into some blood.

"Alright, that's it. I'm sorry, but we have to take you into custody." Again, Greg yelled for Spencer or any other cop nearby. No one responded. "...Great, just great..." Greg whispered to himself over the lack of support and backup he received while he grabbed his radio.

Price grabbed a gun from the night stand and turned around to Greg.

"...Mr. Price, what are you doing?" he asked frightened as he put his hands up.

"Get out of my way." Price had a crazed stare as he walked up to Greg.

The CSI took a few steps back as the gunman came closer. "Calm down, Mr. Price..."

He noticed the gun Greg was carrying. "Give me that!" When Greg was slowly reaching down to his hip to get the gun, Price made another few steps forward with the gun pointing at Greg's face. "No, stop! I'll get it!" As he took the gun from Greg, he told him to sit down on the bed. He hesitated for a moment, knowing this would mean he would contaminate the crime scene. But at this point, he didn't have much of a choice. He tried talking himself out of having to do it, but Price wasn't in the mood for that, so he pushed Greg onto the bed. The man put his belt off to tie the CSI to the bed by his hands.

"Mr. Price, what you're doing could get you in prison for a long time and..."

Price interrupted him by pointing the gun to his face again. "Shut up! Just shut up!" He left the room. Greg tried to get himself out of the belt as he didn't dare yelling for officer Spencer or Nick again. He feared Mr. Price could come back to shut him up for good, so he just hoped that the guys downstairs would be able to deal with him. When he heard several gunshots, he was scared for his colleagues' lives.

* * *

"It shouldn't have happened! It shouldn't have been possible to happen!" Greg said annoyed as he walked alongside Nick through the lab's halls.

Nick nodded. "We already told you we're sorry." He patted Greg on the back. "But we were all busy outside. I tried to explain to you that..."

Greg interrupted him. "Yeah well you shouldn't have been that busy." He wasn't in the mood for Nick's excuses. He felt let down by him.

"What's wrong with you today? You're giving me the cold shoulder since we left the lab."

Greg didn't answer. He didn't want his friend to know that the reason he was mad at him was a rather petty one, but it still hurt his feelings. "Can we just focus on the case, please?"

As they attempted to walk into the evidence room, Russell walked by. "Hey guys. I just heard about your incident on the scene. Are you two alright?"

Nick nodded. "It's fine, Russell," he explained, "The guy'll stay in a hospital bed for a few weeks, but luckily none of our guys were hurt." When Mr. Price walked outside, he opened fire at Nick and the police officers. They had to shoot at him to stop him.

"Actually, it's not okay. Russell, we need to talk." Greg had an angered look on his face.

The supervisor nodded. "I agree. Follow me into my office. Nick, go ahead, Greg will meet you in the evidence room in a minute."

As Russell walked Greg to the office, the younger CSI kept talking. "It's gotten unbearable. Did you know that incidences at crime scenes are going up? I think that's because the police officers are getting negligent. They think that because we're carrying guns they don't have to be present all the time. This could've gotten people killed today and I'm sick and tired of it."

Russell stopped in front of the door, standing in the way so that Greg couldn't reach the door knob. "I agree. I'll let Brass know, he can talk to his guys."

"...Thank you." Greg nodded appreciative, trying to reach the door knob again, but Russell still didn't let him. He looked at his supervisor confused. "Anything wrong?"

"This is probably not the best moment for this, but I don't really think there ever will be a good moment. There's someone sitting inside my office right now, waiting to meet you."

"Oh yeah? Who?" He smiled.

"Just know that it's okay not to do this, alright? I wouldn't put you in this situation if I didn't think you were ready, but it's still perfectly fine not to agree to meet him, okay?"

Greg's smile formed into a frown. "Wow, you're scaring me. What's going on? Who is it?"

Russell took a step to the side to make Greg's face turn away from the door. Telling Greg the following was hard for him. "Listen, Greg. You don't have to do this. If you don't want to, just tell me and I'll take care of it. But... Neil Novak's brother is here and he wants to meet you."

"Huh? ...What? ...N-Novak's... his... his brother's in your office? Right now?" When Russell nodded, Greg's eyes wandered to the door. Without much hesitation, he walked towards it, opened up and walked in.

A baffled Russell followed behind and closed the door.

* * *

When Kyle Novak heard the door open, he rose from his seat quite nervously. "Mr. Sanders, hi. It's... It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He reached his hand out for him to shake it, which the CSI did with a weird, confused look on his face after a short moment of hesitation. "My name's Kyle... Novak. I'm..."

"I know," he said, staring at the man. The resemblance was daunting. He had to keep reminding himself that this wasn't Neil Novak himself.

Russell felt the suffocating awkwardness in the room as Greg kept staring without saying anything. "Take a seat, Greg." He walked over to his chair to sit down. "Mr. Novak, I took the liberty to tell Greg why you're here. I hope you don't mind."

"No, of course not. I... You can call me Kyle." He chuckled nervously. "I'm so sorry, this is such a surreal moment for me. I just don't know what to say. There's just too much I'd like to tell you, Mr. Sanders, but... I feel like nothing I ever could say would be enough."

While he hardly took his eyes off Greg, the CSI mostly looked at Russell or the floor. He was overwhelmed with the situation. "...There's nothing to say. ...Nothing you need to say."

"That's nice of you to say, but I disagree. I think of you a lot, you know. I wanted to reach out to you for a long time now, but I was embarrassed and didn't expect you to care to talk to me. And now that I sit here with you, I don't know how to apologize to you for what my brother did. Just know that I am deeply sorry for what happened to you."

"...Thank you, but it's not necessary."

A weird moment of silence followed before Russell started talking, "So Mr. Novak... Kyle... You told me over the phone that your brother's health has been declining in the past few months."

He nodded. "Here's the thing, Mr. Sanders... Can I call you Greg?" He didn't receive an answer, so he just went on, "It's a weird situation for me, too. Neil and I weren't close. You see, he grew up with his mother while I lived with our father. We're half-brothers. When I heard about what he did, it was... weird. Sorry, I know I'm repeating myself, I'm a bit overwhelmed." He smiled. "Anyway, his mom Ella contacted me and she told me... He's getting worse. His chances of recovery were almost non-existing from the beginning. She asked me to help her come to a decision, but I didn't want to do it without consulting you first, Mr. Sanders. See, the thing is... I didn't even know him that well. I'm not sure what to do, but she can't make that decision, either. So I feel like you should make that decision, really."


	2. Chapter 2

**Next one! Are you ready?**

* * *

Greg walked into the evidence room with a haunted look on his face. It was hard to read it, but Nick didn't even attempt to as he didn't look up from his work. "Hey Greg, grab some gloves and help me here, will you?"

"Sure," he said with a thoughtful tone in his voice. He hardly listened to his friend right now. He put some gloves on, but didn't move from his spot.

"Quick, I'll hand you the pieces I'll fish out of here and you'll bag 'em, alright?" Nick already started, but Greg still didn't move.

"...Do you want a coffee?" Greg asked as he pulled the gloves off his hands.

"Now? Uhm, no, I need you to... Hey, where are you going?"

"Sorry, I'll just get some coffee. I need to... I can't be here."

Nick watched Greg walk out of the room, walking past the break room. "Hey, coffee's in that direction. Greg, what the hell?"

* * *

When Greg walked back into the lab almost an hour later, Nick wasn't in the evidence room anymore. He found him sitting in the break room, sipping on his own cup of coffee. "There you are. You know there was a full can of coffee in here?"

Greg shook his head as he stepped inside. "I'm sorry, Nick. I needed some fresh air, is all." He had a coffee he bought at a diner several blocks away from the lab in his hand.

"So sit down and tell me about it."

Greg did sit down, but he stared down at his coffee cup instead of talking to his friend.

Looking into his friend's absent-minded eyes, he realized he was close to tears. "Hey, look at me. What's wrong, Greg?"

He finally looked up to him. "I just talked to Neil Novak's brother. They look so alike... The voice, even... It's... It was weird. Creeped me out."

" **Brother**? He has a brother?"

"Yeah, seems like they didn't grow up together. They have the same father, but different mothers. How can they look so alike when they're only half-siblings?"

"...Where did you talk to him?"

"In Russell's office."

"Russell did this?" As Greg started explaining further, Nick got off his seat, kicking his chair back. Without saying a word, he stormed out of the room.

* * *

"Hey Russell!" Nick yelled through the crime lab's hallway.

Greg needed a few moments before he hurried out of the break room himself to follow Nick. "Stop it, what are you doing?"

"What was he thinking, making you talk to Novak's brother? Is he out of his mind?" When he put his hand on the doorknob to open the door to Russell's office, the supervisor opened up.

"Stop yelling, Nick. I'm busy." Russell raised his eyebrows when he noticed Nick wasn't alone. "Greg, you're back."

"Why did you let this happen?" Nick asked agitated.

Greg pulled him back. "Will you stop it already? It was **my** decision to talk to him."

"You shouldn't even have had to make that decision, Greg!"

"Excuse me? Who are **you** to decide?"

"Guys, stop it. Nick, you're being ridiculous. Greg's an adult, he knows what he can and can't handle."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not standing right next to you guys!"

The three argued for a moment before Kyle Novak opened the door. They stopped talking when he did, all staring at him.

"...Just a second, I'll be right back," Russell said quite embarrassed.

"I-It's okay, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt, but I heard Mr. Sanders' voice and... I'd really appreciate it if you'd come back in so we could talk." He smiled at them as he closed the door again, walking back inside.

Nick gave Russell an angry look. "Great. Real great, Russell. I'm not surprised that this triggered him, the guy looks **exactly** like Novak."

"I know, but I can't lie to him to shield him from this, he..."

"Shut up! Both of you, just shut up!" Greg yelled angrily. It caused both of his colleagues to stare at him in shock. "...Even though I regret telling my boss to shut up... You both need to **shut up**. I can't take this anymore. All you're doing is fighting about what's good for me. What I need you two to do is realize that I'm an adult and that **I** know best what's good for me." He gave them both a look as he walked past them, opening the door to the office and walking in.

* * *

When Russell sat back down in his chair with surprise visible in his face, Greg was already talking to Kyle Novak, apologizing for leaving the conversation earlier.

"It's okay, I know I expect much from you even talking to me. And I really appreciate that you do." Kyle smiled at him.

Greg nodded sheepishly. "Thanks, but... let's get straight to the point. I can't take this decision off you, I'm sorry."

"Just think about it, okay? Ella never told me much about what happened, I got all my information from news articles online, but... I think you deserve this, okay? What he did to you... You deserve to decide. For the last years I kept thinking about you, wondering how I could make this up to you. I finally found something, please accept it. It might not matter to you, but it does to me. I need to know that I did what I could to make it up to you."

He frowned. "Why do you think you need to do something to make me feel better? You're not responsible for his actions."

Kyle nodded. "That's true, but... It was so weird seeing him in that hospital bed. I instantly felt a deep connection to him and to be honest, it scared me. After all, I knew what kind of a person he was. But he looks like me, we share half our DNA. I keep wondering why he turned out to be that... monster. I'm wondering what went wrong in his path and... I realize it doesn't matter. He doesn't matter. **You** matter."

"...What?"

"I've been told you're the only victim who survived. I want to help make it easier on you. You should decide what's going to happen with him."

Greg sat down sighing. "Look, I appreciate that you want to do this, but the truth is it's not helping me. I don't want this, I'm better off not making that decision. I don't even want to know what's going to happen to him. I don't want him in my life. I'm sorry."

Kyle Novak got off his seat, which instantly caused Greg to feel panic. Kyle noticed, looked a bit surprised and confused but decided not to comment on it. Instead, he handed Greg his card. "Take your time to think about it, please. That's all I'm asking. And when you're sure about what you want... or what you need, give me a call."

* * *

Greg remained seated in Russell's office after Kyle left. He just sat there in silence, breathing heavily. Nick stayed outside while Greg talked to Kyle, but walked in after the man had left. "...Are you alright?"

Greg didn't react.

"Do you need to be alone?" Russell asked cautious.

"No, I'm fine," he finally replied with a shaky voice.

Nick and Russell shared a look. He was obviously not fine, but telling him that was pointless. "Do you need anything?"

"...I'm not wrong, am I?"

"What do you mean?"

Greg shrugged. "I mean, I have no place to decide his faith, do I?"

"Well... Do you want to decide?"

He shook his head.

"Then don't." Nick smiled at him.

Greg smiled back, but with sad eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took a while to update! Do you enjoy the story so far?  
**

* * *

When he walked out of Russell's office, Greg was determined not to give this subject another thought – he had made up his mind already. But after a while he started getting doubts. His mind was racing that night, he could hardly fall asleep. When he woke up the next morning, there was one thing he thought he needed to do to be sure about his decision again. He spent his whole shift thinking about this and took action right after, when Nick was still at work, pulling a double. "Greg, hey," Nick said with a soft voice as he walked up to his friend. Greg was just walking out of the hospital, while Nick was walking in. They both stopped in front of the entrance as Nick looked his friend up and down. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, why?" Greg asked, quite surprised to see his friend here. He was caught off guard and didn't know how to react.

"...Because you're walking out of the hospital. Did you go here for treatment?"

"Oh, no. No, I'm fine."

Nick frowned. "What's going on, then? What were you doing here?"

"Nothing, I was just..." He sighed. "I came here to see Novak."

"...Oh, wow. Why?"

"I don't know, I just... I guess I needed to make sure he really still was here. Seeing his brother was weird, you know? He looks so much like him, yet their mannerism is nothing alike. But... I needed to make sure. Weird, huh?" He smiled as he rolled his eyes over his own weird mind.

"Not at all." Nick patted his friend's shoulder. "How was it seeing him?"

Greg shrugged. "Also weird. I was hoping this would give me some clarity..."

"Clarity? ...You're not thinking about making a decision, are you?"

"We'll talk about this sometime, you have to get back to work..." Greg tried to walk away, but Nick grabbed his arm to keep him from doing so.

"No, we'll talk about this now. Don't do it, Greg. You don't want to decide whether he lives or dies. It's ridiculous even entertaining that thought!"

"Why not?"

"Because I know you, you'll regret either decision. If you keep him alive, you'll always think about him, knowing you kept him in his situation. If you let him die, you'll always wonder if you did the right thing. Don't do it."

* * *

Greg knew his friend was right and he was willing to accept his good advice. But not making a decision was starting to feel like making one – the decision to keep Novak alive.

He was sitting in the break room two days later, nervously tapping his thumb on the table. "Nick?" he asked while his friend was fixing himself a cup of coffee.

"Yeah," he replied as he turned around to him.

"There's no upside to keep him alive."

"...Huh?"

"Just think about it. He's wasting away in a hospital bed. He's pushing 60 and there's no way he'll ever wake up. He could remain in that state for another 10 or 20 years. Just think about how much money gets wasted on this guy."

Nick sat down next to him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to take emotions out of the equation. Reason tells me that there's no point in keeping him alive. He doesn't gain anything from it, neither does his family. They obviously suffer. Best case scenario, Novak doesn't feel a thing. Worst case... he suffers, too."

Nick couldn't help but frown. "Do you actually care whether he suffers or not?"

Greg shrugged. "Reason tells me it doesn't really matter. My feelings towards him shouldn't matter."

"But that's the only reason they're asking you to do this. They could make a decision based on reason, too. Hell, his doctor probably already gave them his piece of mind. But they want you to make a decision based on your feelings, not your reason. Don't do it."

"If I don't, nobody will."

"So? What does it matter?"

"I don't know, Nick." He sighed deeply. "I never asked for any of this. Why can't they just leave me alone?"

* * *

Leaving Greg alone wasn't anything the Novak family planned on doing right away. Kyle Novak entered the crime lab that morning, asking for Greg.

He was already getting ready in the locker room to go home when they found him. "Greg, hi!" Kyle exclaimed quite joyful.

He stared at them in shock. "What... what are you doing here again?"

"I want you to meet my wife. Amy, this is Greg Sanders."

"Hi, I'm Amy. It's so nice to finally meet you." She had a big smile on her face as she reached her hand out to shake his.

He reluctantly shook her hand. "Hi... What's going on?"

The two were standing in the doorway, a circumstance that caused Greg to feel trapped. "Listen, we know coming to a decision isn't easy, so... We'd like to take you out for breakfast."

"...What?"

"I asked the girl at the reception," Amy said quite excited. "There's a great diner just around the corner."

"Aha..." was all he could say at the moment, staring at the two quite disbelieving.

"So, what do you say?"

"...No."

"Come on, just for an hour. I'm sure you must be hungry after a long night shift, right?"

Thoughts were running through his mind quickly. He contemplated just going with them for a moment to get it over with, giving him opportunity to tell them he wasn't interested in making that decision for them. Instead, he decided to just tell them off right away, being too scared to go anywhere with them. "Listen, I know you meant well when you asked me to decide Novak's faith. But I don't want to do that, you're not doing me a favor. You're burdening me with that. I'm not making a decision for you, I don't care what you decide... I just don't care about him or his family. All I want is to be left alone, alright?"

Both looked quite shocked and devastated hearing him say those things. "But... You deserve it."

"No, I don't. I deserve to be left alone. If you want to help me... Don't contact me again."

* * *

Greg couldn't quite remember how he found himself sitting in the diner near the crime lab a few minutes later, Amy and Kyle Novak sitting opposite him. After Amy had started crying, the conversation kind of went downhill and Greg agreed to have breakfast with them. But now that they actually were sitting together at a table, he had lost his appetite.

Kyle and Amy were telling him lots of stories about their lives before they started trying to pressure him into making a decision again. They had promised not to talk about it anymore when he agreed to have breakfast with them but felt the need to talk about it again, anyway.

Greg just sat there, barely listening while sipping from his coffee cup. This situation felt too weird – too surreal.

"So what do you say?" Kyle said, breaking Greg's concentration.

"Huh?"

"You wouldn't be involved in any way officially. Doesn't that sound good to you?"

He quickly gathered the information he just heard without really listening and put them together in his head with what Kyle just said. "I would still be involved in the decision."

"Yeah, that's kind of the point. I think you'd regret not getting involved in a few years."

"...I doubt that."

"Well, I know **I'd** regret making a decision you're not comfortable with."

He shook his head. "You're uncomfortable making **any** decision. And I don't even blame you, it's not easy. But the only thing I would regret is getting involved in that decision, okay? I won't do it."

Kyle was starting to make Greg uncomfortable with his pushy way and it was visible in his face and body language.

Officer Posey and Pinto were walking into the diner, instantly spotting Greg sitting there with the two strangers. They noticed his discomfort, so Pinto decided to act on it. "Hey Sanders," he exclaimed joyful as he sat down next to him, making him scoot to give him and Posey some room to sit down.

"...Hey guys," he said sheepishly and a bit confused.

"Everything alright here?" Pinto asked as he put his arm on the backrest behind Greg.

Greg's discomfort only intensified as he didn't know what the two officers were doing here. He felt trapped again, being pushed against the wall while the two officers blocked the way out of his seat.

Amy and Kyle looked quite confused, as well.

"Uhm Greg, who..." Kyle meant to ask, but his wife interrupted him.

"Just think about it, alright?" She got off her seat, Kyle followed and they left the diner.

Greg needed a moment to digest the whole situation before turning to Pinto, who had put his arm away from the backrest. "Is... Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, are you alright?"

He nodded. "Why?"

"I figured you could need some help. What are you doing talking to that rapist?"

Greg hastily shook his head. "No, that's not him. He's his halfbrother, it's complicated, he..."

Pinto interrupted him as him and Posey got off their seats. "I'm not talking about **him**."


	4. Chapter 4

**Next chapter coming right up!**

* * *

Greg rested his head on the table in the break room. It didn't take long until he fell asleep, only to be woken up a few minutes later from a weird dream he had. After his talk with Kyle and Amy, he couldn't get much sleep at home.

"Whoa, are you okay?" Nick asked, surprised by how hectically Greg woke up.

"...Huh? What? Uhm... yeah." He rubbed his eyes, being quite disoriented after his short nap, feeling more exhausted than before.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "More or less." He sighed as he looked at his friend. "...Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"So I had breakfast with Kyle and his wife yesterday and..."

Nick interrupted him. "Wait, what? Why?"

"Yeah, I don't know how that happened but they talked me into it. Anyway, officer Pinto walked in and... he says he recognizes her from a case from a few years ago."

"...Really."

"He says she raped a man. The case never made it to court but Pinto is sure it's her."

"...Hm."

"My question is... Do you think I should look into it?"

Nick frowned. "Huh?"

"Look, it's a case from years ago that didn't even make it to court. Finding any information about this case will be a hassle and I'm wondering... what for, you know? I said I didn't want anything to do with this family so I probably shouldn't, right? I should just..." He stopped as his phone started ringing. "Just a sec." He answered it. "Sanders. Oh, hi, I... no... Yeah, I already... but... I-I... I'm going to hang up now, sorry. Yeah, I'm sorry, I... I can't." He hung up the phone with a haunted look in his eyes. "That was her."

"...What did she want?"

"She urged me to come to a decision and... told me what I should decide. She wants me to put him off life support."

"Wow. ...Why?"

Greg shrugged. "She said she realized it was unfair to ask me to make the call so... she did, but wants me to tell Kyle I came up with it."

"Wow, this sure is a messed up family."

"Why can't I shake this?" He buried his face in his hands. "All I want is to be left alone, why won't these people leave me alone?"

* * *

"Listen to this!" Greg stormed into the evidence room two days later, where Nick was working right now. "'It would mean so much to me if you'd help us with this hard and terrifying decision'. Are they serious?!"

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Nick asked surprised over his agitated friend. He looked at the piece of paper in Greg's hand. "What's this?"

"Why can't they just leave me alone? His **mother** sent me a letter!"

"...What? They have your address?"

He shook his head. "They sent it at the lab, but... how could they?!"

"Alright, calm down. Give it." Nick grabbed the letter to read it. He knew he needed to be careful now in voicing his opinion. "Okay... They're really trying to get you to come to a decision."

"Why? I mean, what do they gain from it? Why can't they decide on their own? I never wanted to be dragged into their disgusting family relations!"

Nick nodded. "It's not fair of them to try to make you do this, you already told them you don't want to."

"Right? I mean, what is this woman thinking?!"

"I don't know." Nick shrugged as he handed the letter back. "You know, you can just ignore it. She'll realize you're not interested and that's that."

"Oh believe me, I will. I don't care about either one of them! They can do whatever they want, but leave me out of it."

* * *

Even though he was terribly creeped out by the Novak familiy's efforts to get in touch with him, Greg tried to forget about the whole thing. He was determined not to decide whether or not Neil Novak should be taken off life support and didn't want to talk to Kyle Novak again. He tried the passive-aggressive approach of just ignoring any attempts of them to get in contact with him again and so far it worked. It took Kyle a whole week – and five attempts to contact Greg – until he decided to try a more aggressive approach. "Greg, hi," he said with a soft smile on his face as he greeted the CSI as he walked to his apartment building.

"...What are you doing here?" Greg asked baffled, looking him up and down.

"I'm sorry to surprise you like that but I happened to drive by and saw you get out of your car so... here I am."

* * *

Nick had received a very cryptical text message from Greg's phone that made him worry about his friend, so he decided to go check up on him. "Greg?" He knocked at his friend's apartment door.

The door opened. "Nick, what are you doing here?" Greg's voice could be heard asking as he was quickly walking back into his bedroom.

Nick closed the door as he walked in. "I worry about you. What was your text message about?"

"I'm moving," he replied, already in his bedroom.

"What? I feel like you've just moved in here a while ago. Why?"

"He followed me. He knows where I live."

"...What? Who?"

"What do you mean, 'who' ? Kyle!" He stormed out of the bedroom and in the living room.

"...He followed you? What did he want?" Nick walked a few steps closer to his friend to look him up and down. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm **not** alright! Didn't you listen? He knows where I live, I... I gotta move." Greg kept running around between his living room and bedroom, grabbing a few things from the living room every now and then.

"...Move? Greg, stop." He grabbed him by his arms to make him stop walking around for a moment. "Did he hurt you? Or threaten you?"

"No, he... He invited me to dinner with him, his mom and Neil's mom. He's crazy, right? Why would he track me down just to invite me to dinner? There's something wrong, he's planning something."

"Look, I know this guy creeps you out but... we have no reason to believe he's dangerous."

"How does he know where I live, Nick? Huh? And why does he need to know? Why did he wait outside the building to talk to me?"

Nick shrugged. "I agree it's weird and..."

"It's not just weird. He's planning something!"

"Maybe... Maybe not. We don't know that. But moving again, that's..."

"I can't... stay here now that I know... that he knows." He shook his head, starting to grab stuff to carry into the bedroom again.

"What are you even doing? Are you packing your stuff up already?"

"Only the essentials. I'll move into a hotel for now." He came back out.

"Okay, now **you're** creeping **me** out. Don't you think that's a bit rash?"

"Rash? What, do you expect me to sit here and wait for him to make his move? Maybe he just wants me to meet Neil's mother, or maybe he wants something else. I'm not waiting here for him to attack me. I'm not taking any risks. I let one of them hurt me before, I'm not waiting for the other to take his turn."

"Greg, I think you're having a bit of a panic attack right now. It's understandable, but you need to try to stay calm, alright?"

"How can I stay calm, Nick?" He started to walk up and down nervously. "I have nowhere to go, I won't feel safe in a hotel room, either. He might follow me there, too, I..." He sobbed desperately as he sat down on the couch. "I don't know what to do."

Nick looked at his friend rather helpless. He didn't like seeing him like that and he was a bit at loss of words right now, not knowing how he could be able to help him right now. "Why don't you come stay with me?"

"I can't."

"Why not?" Nick frowned confused.

"I don't want to get you... It's too dangerous."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the review, I love reading how you guys feel about my stories! Enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

"You know my offer still stands, right?" Nick and Greg were talking in the break room two nights later. The older CSI wasn't able to convince Greg to stay with him while he felt unsafe in his own home.

"I know and I'm thankful for that but... I don't want to take any risks." Greg drank from his cup.

"There's no risk." Nick rolled his eyes. "So which hotel did you chose?"

"Well... Let's just say I'm saving a lot of money."

"What?" Nick frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." He smiled at him.

"God," Nick exclaimed, "Please don't tell me you're sleeping here at the lab!"

Greg looked quite embarrassed. "I got everything I need here. Nobody's complained so far, so why not?"

"Because it's insane! Please just come home with me! Please!"

"Come on, don't make him beg for it." Hodges walked in with a grin on his face.

Greg raised an eyebrow. "I guess I'd be willing to risk it with Hodges but... I'm not sure I want to live with him," he whispered to Nick.

"So where do you keep all your stuff?"

"My locker." He shrugged. "And a few things in my c... Where are you going?"

Nick had gotten off his seat and out of the room. Greg quickly followed.

"Don't!"

Nick walked into the locker room and opened Greg's locker. "Bet you regret telling me your combination, huh?" He grabbed the stuff Greg had just been talking about out of it.

"Give it back, come on."

"No. I won't let you live at the lab, that's insane. You already have enough trouble getting distance from work as it is. It's not healthy to live at work."

"It's not forever, I'm meeting with a realtor next week, I..."

"Stop it! Greg, listen to yourself. This guy follows you to your apartment and you're moving? That's crazy. He won't hurt you."

"We can't know that."

"Yeah, there's always a possibility the people we meet in our life want to hurt us, we can't let that stop us from going on with our lives." Nick went on about this until tears came rolling down Greg's cheeks. "...Greg?"

"I don't like being that way, okay?" He sobbed. "I don't want to be distrusting and paranoid but... I can't help it. I don't feel safe at home, I'm terrified just thinking about driving home. Novak's never been at my place, he never intruded my personal life... not until his damned brother showed up in front of my home. He's there now, Nick. **Neil's** there. Novak's in my private life, my safe place... and... I can't deal with that. I don't know any other way but to just up and leave. It's pathetic, I know that, but... I don't know another way."

This actually made sense to Nick. He was shocked to see his friend being able to word this so aptly, but it really helped him understand. "Okay but... why not come to my place?"

"Because it's just a matter of time until Kyle figures out where you live and... I can't make you move." Greg couldn't help but laugh about that as he wiped his tears away. "When this is all over, I still want to feel safe at your place."

* * *

After his mild panic attack in the locker room, Greg decided to go see Dr. Reyes and ask her for advice. She urged him to wait to find a new place, too, just like Nick, but was open to the idea of moving eventually. He agreed to wait a while before making that big of a decision. Dr. Reyes also talked him into staying with Nick until this whole situation was over and while it was hard for him to accept this as his best option right now, he agreed on it. He went back to his place to get some more clean clothes to store at his friend's house. He was approached by an older woman as he unlocked the door to his apartment.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes?" he asked with a smile, believing her to be living on the first floor. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, hi." She grabbed his hand to shake it. "Nice to meet you, Greg."

His smile slowly faded as he realized she wasn't the neighbour he was thinking about. He wondered how she knew his name. "...And you are?"

"I really don't get what he saw in you. I mean, you're handsome, I'll give you that but... other than that, he could've done better."

"...Excuse me?" He frowned confused, the smile completely faded by now. "Who are you?"

"You don't know?" When he shook his head, she went on, "Now I get it. He always liked 'em dumb."

* * *

Greg was back at the lab with the stuff he collected from his apartment, walking into the locker room to put it away. It was already past the start of his shift, he was running late and didn't really have time to take care of his personal things right now – but he took the time anyway.

Nick had his phone at his ear as he walked into the room. "Oh, there you are. I was just about to call you, where were you?"

"Home," he simply replied while putting things from a box into his locker.

"Really. What were you doing there? Did you move back in?"

Greg snorted derisively. "No."

"What are you putting the stuff in your locker for? You could've left it in your car and driven it to my place after shift." He didn't get an anser. "Are you okay? Did something happen? ...Did Kyle show up again?"

Greg stopped for a moment, then shook his head and continued. "You know, some people just..." He stopped himself. "I'll be ready in a minute."

"Did he call you?" When he didn't get the response he hoped for, he went on, "Text you? ...Left a note at your door? Come on, talk to me."

He couldn't help but smile at Nick for trying that hard to get some information out of him, but with tired, sad eyes. "His mother showed up."

"...What? His mother? What'd she want?"

He shrugged. "Insult me, then ask me to come to dinner."

"What? Insult you?"

"Yeah, she said some... pretty weird things." He closed his locker and sat down on the bench in front of it, sighing.

"Like what?"

He hastily shook his head. "I don't even know what she meant by it, I don't feel like repeating it."

"Did she threaten you?"

He shook his head again. "Not really, I... I don't think she did. I don't know, okay?" He rose up from his seat again. "She's an old little lady, but... I think she knew Novak better than Kyle thinks she did."

"Just say the word and I'll call him, tell him to leave you alone."

"I know you would." He smiled at him. "But I've dragged you into this too far already, I can't… I'm not moving in with you."

"What? Why?"

"This isn't your mess, Nick. You'd try and protect me from it if the roles were reversed, so..."

Nick stopped him by grabbing the box out of his hand. "This isn't up for debate, Greg. You're not spending another night inside this lab… unless you're working. You know what I mean, just… come home with me, alright? Things will be okay. I'll be okay, and you, too." He put the stuff Greg had just put into his locker back into the box. "I'll put this in my car and we'll move you in after shift."

Greg contemplated arguing with him about this, but he was too exhausted. He had a smile on his face. "Thank you, Nick."


	6. Chapter 6

**Next chapter, let's go!**

* * *

Kyle kept trying to reach Greg even though he didn't respond to any of his tries. It kept the CSI on his toes, he felt harrassed by him and his family and after meeting the man's mother, he trusted him even less. Nick noticed how heavy this whole situation was weighing on his friend and he decided to do something about it. He met with Kyle Novak after his shift.

"Thanks for meeting with me, Mr. Stokes. I was trying to reach Greg for a week now, do you know why he hasn't come back to me yet? He's very busy probably, right?"

Nick nodded as he sat down in a booth at the diner Kyle and Greg had met days earlier. "He is, and you need to leave him alone."

The smile on Kyle's face turned into a frown. "Huh?"

"You know what your brother did to him, right?"

"...Half-brother. And yeah, I do, but that's exactly why I need to talk to him. The whole family talked, we want to gift him this decision."

"It's not a gift to him, it's a curse. He was fine before you came along."

Kyle had a wary look on his face. "Why isn't **he** here to tell me?"

"Because he doesn't want to see you. Ever. Your mother really creeped him out yesterday. I don't know exactly what she said but..."

Kyle interrupted him. "Wait, they met?"

He nodded. "You didn't know?"

"No, she didn't tell me. What did she say to him?"

"He wouldn't tell, but it doesn't matter. He repeatedly told you to leave him alone. You might mean well, but we don't care. You're leaving him alone. You'll stop calling, writing and following him."

"I never followed hi..."

Nick interrupted him. "Just stop it."

"But Mr. Stokes, I..."

Again he didn't let him finish his sentence. "I won't **ask** you again, get it? Leave him alone or we're going to have a problem." He got off his seat and walked towards the door.

"...Is that supposed to be a threat?" Kyle asked with a shaky voice. He was confused, surprised and intimidated by him.

Nick turned around to him with a smile. "Why, is there a need for that?"

"...I just wanted to do the right thing, Mr. Stokes. It hurts that he doesn't want to accept our offer and that he didn't have the guts to say this himself, but… I'll leave him alone, don't worry."

* * *

Three days later, Nick and Greg were talking about one of their cases as they were walking through the lab's hallway. They heard loud noises coming from the reception, with people yelling, obviously agitated. "What's going on?" Nick asked curiously as the two walked closer to see what the commotion was about.

"That's him!" a woman's voice yelled quite upset. "He's the one!"

As the two CSI's came closer, they realized that she was pointing on Greg – and that she was Kyle's mother.

"...You've got to be kidding me. What is she doing here?" Greg asked as he rolled his eyes.

"You know her?"

The woman ran towards Greg with raised fists, starting to hit him. "You did this!" She was rather small, weak and short and it was easy for them to restrain her.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Greg yelled back at her. "Get your hands off me!"

"Hey, calm down," Nick tried to calm him down by putting his hands on him to keep him from her.

" **I** need to calm down? What about her?"

By now, the woman had stopped yelling and instead started crying. "Somebody help me, he's the one!"

* * *

"Thanks for waiting, Greg. You remember detective Black from day shift?" Russell walked into one of the interrogation rooms with a gentle smile, detective Black walking in behind him.

"Yeah. Hi." He knew neither one of the two men were at fault here, but he was too annoyed to be too courteous. He had been waiting almost an hour now, without exactly knowing why. All he knew was that Russell talked to Kyle's mother Laura.

"Hey Mr. Sanders. I'm going to do your interview and will do it as professionally as possible. Please remember that we're doing it that way only to protect you. Captain Brass asked me to fill in for him, he would've liked to do it himself, but with such a delicate subject, we all agreed that it's better someone else do it."

Greg nodded impatiently. "So what's the subject?"

"Excuse me?"

"I don't even know what I'm doing here. What does this woman want from me?"

Russell decided to chime in. "Laura Novak claims you assaulted her today."

The annoyed look on his face turned into a stunned one. "...What?"

Detective Black gave Russell a look. They had decided that Russell was allowed in the room, but only as support for Greg, not part of the interrogation. "We're all sure the allegations are unfounded, but we have an obligation to look into it. I'm sure you understand."

Greg rubbed his face. "Unbelievable. This family is unbelievable. ...Is she serious?"

"I'm afraid she is. She went to the hospital first to get herself checked out and treated, then went home. She said she couldn't sleep so decided to confront you personally, which is why she showed up in the lab." He cleared his throat. "So I have to ask… Where were you between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.?"

"At home, sleeping." He received a weird look by the detective. "...At Nick's home, sleeping."

"CSI Nick Stokes?"

He nodded. "He offered to let me stay for a few days."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't feel safe at home, since both Kyle and his mother pretty much stalked me."

Detective Black raised his eyebrows. "They stalked you?"

"Yeah. He kept calling. When I didn't respond he showed up at my place. So did his mother a few days later, talking crazy stuff."

"About what?"

He looked around the room helplessly, obviously uncomfortable with that question. "I… I don't really remember, and… she came looking for me. It wasn't the other way around."

"Greg, it's important to know what she told you, you know that," Russell chimed in once again.

"Had I known who she was, I wouldn't even have talked to her..." He sighed deeply. "She said something along the lines of… he could've done better than me. And because I didn't know who she was she said that she gets it now, because he liked them dumb… I told her to get lost and she started yelling at me, that I deserved what happened." He propped his arm up on the table, resting his chin on his closed hand. "And that she'd find someone who'd finish what he started if I don't do what she wants from me. I told her to leave me alone and went inside the apartment building, she didn't try to follow me."

The detective frowned as he took notes. "Who was she talking about?"

"Neil Novak."

Russell looked at him quite shocked, trying to conceal his emotions, while the detective nodded. "She said his name?"

"Well, no, but… who else would she mean?"

"It sounds rather cryptical as a whole."

"It sounds lunatic if you ask me. She was aggressive and rude and really creeped me out."

Russell nodded. "I remember you being quite absent-minded that day."

"Yeah. Because all I wanted was to be left alone, and now this woman threatens me."

"You felt threatened?" detective Black asked as he kept taking notes.

He shrugged. "Not at first. But the whole bit about finding someone who finished what he started… I wasn't sure at first that she meant Novak… Neil, but now I'm sure and that sounds like a threat to me."

Black nodded. "Did you tell anyone about this right after it happened?"

"I told Nick that she talked to me, but not what she was talking about."

"That's not good," he said under his breath, but loud enough for them to hear.

"...Why?"

"If she denies this happened, it's her word against yours."

"Same thing with the alleged assault."

"Yeah, but… she has hospital records."

Greg rolled his eyes. "What, did she get hurt? Looked fine to me."

He nodded. "In fact, she claims you hit her head. She has a laceration on her head. Over two inches long and with an ugly bruise around it."

Greg ran his fingers through his hair. "That only proves that she got hurt, not that I had anything to do with it. Where did it even happen?"

"Around the corner of your apartment building. She says she was running some errands in the area and you two bumped into each other by accident. You insulted her before assaulting her, pushing her against the building and hitting her head."

"...That's ludicrous. That didn't happen."

"Well, can someone vouch for your alibi? Can CSI Stokes confirm that you were at his home, sleeping?"

"...I don't know, I don't think he was home."

The detective raised his eyebrows. "You don't know? Why not?"

"...Because I was asleep. He said he was going to meet a friend that morning, I don't know if and when he went."

"So… you've got no alibi and already had an argument with the victim."

"...She had an argument with me, not the other way around."

The detective shook his head. "Doesn't make much of a difference."

In his desperation, the CSI turned to his supervisor. "Russell, you **know** I didn't do this."

"Of course." He shook his head. "But we need to prove it."


	7. Chapter 7

**Only a few more chapters to go, hope you guys enjoy the story!**

* * *

Greg stepped out of the interrogation room after answering all of their questions. Nick greeted him outside the police station. "Hey, how'd it go?"

"I have no idea. They believe me but I can't prove anything I told them." Greg sighed.

"But no one will prove that you were involved, right?"

He shook his head. "No, of course not. I'm not worried, I'm annoyed."

They were talking about this on their way to Nick's car when they heard Greg's name being called from behind. Both turned around to Kyle Novak. "Hey Greg! I already got it, okay? There was no need to attack my mother!"

"I didn't attack her," he explained calmly – but still annoyed.

"Then where did her injury come from, huh?"

"How the hell am I suppose to know?!" Greg was slowly losing his patience.

"Just leave her alone!" he yelled aggressively.

Nick positioned himself protectively in front of his friend. "That's enough. Get lost before one of the cops detains you, alright?"

"Ah, another well-intended threat by Mr. Stokes, how original! How about you stay out of this for once? This isn't any of your business."

"Oh no? I think it is. You better stay away from him. I'm **not** repeating myself."

"Yeah? What if I don't? Will you hit me like he hit my poor mother?!"

Greg pulled Nick back to get closer to Kyle. "I did not hit your crazy mother! We met only **once** on Tuesday and she insulted and threatened me! I didn't do anything to her!"

Kyle's anger quickly faded. "...What? She… threatened you? How?"

Greg quickly explained without going into more detail than necessary. "I told you before, I don't want anything to do with you or your family. Leave me alone!" Both CSI's turned around to keep walking.

"...W-Wait. Please. This wasn't her."

Greg rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure." He turned back around to him. "What, she got a crazy twin sister or something?"

Kyle hastily shook his head. "She's had early signs of dementia for half a year now… She sometimes doesn't know what she's saying, she gets angry and… hateful. I'm sorry, I didn't know she was going to talk to you. But what she said… this wasn't her, it was the disease."

"She seemed to know **exactly** what she was saying."

"No, she..."

Greg interrupted him. "She seemed to know your brother better than you though, have you ever asked her about it?"

"...Why should she? What did she say to you?"

Greg didn't really want to tell him – or anybody else, really, but he already had to tell detective Black and Russell. He went on to explain in detail what she told him and what his interpretation of those words were. "And you wanna know what? All this time I kept wondering… Will you be the one finishing what your brother started?"

Kyle stared at him, feeling all kinds of emotions right now. "...You're lying, she didn't say those things."

"Why should I be lying?"

"...Y-You want to get rid of us so you..."

"I do. That's my greatest wish right now, but… I'm not lying. She said those things."

"...A-And you think… I could ever do anything to you… or anybody else… that's as revolting as what he did?"

Greg nodded. It took only half a second until he regretted it. "...No. I mean, I don't know. I don't know you and I don't want to get to know you. But you look so much like him, it creeps me out."

Kyle put his head down. "I never meant to scare you, Greg. I never meant to do any harm and I'd **never** hurt anyone like Neil did. It was hard to accept he was my brother, but we can't hide from our families." He sighed deeply. "And my mother… She's not perfect, alright? She wasn't the perfect mother, either, but I love her. I don't believe she meant those words she said to you."

"Go ask her about Neil. Ask her why she said those things and why she claims I hurt her. Is your relationship good enough for her to tell you the truth?"

* * *

In the following two days, Kyle's mother kept changing the story of the alleged assault a few times. This worked greatly in Greg's favor, as well as the fact that Kyle told the police his mother had dementia. Still, she wouldn't admit that Greg didn't have anything to do with her injury and wanted to press charges.

Usually he would be suspended until this case was closed, but since Laura Novak was such an unreliable victim and witness, the judge in charge decided he was alright to work. There had been a gang shooting in North Vegas and Greg was in charge of following the bullet casings to pinpoint where it all started. As he was walking by the road, taking pictures of bullet casings before bagging them, he felt like being watched. He's had that feeling a lot, but it was too intense to ignore this time. He kept looking around, but didn't see anyone. "Hey Ramirez," he said to one of the officers at the scene through his radio, "Would you mind following me around a bit?"

" _Sure, where are you?"_

"I'm just around the corner, maybe five minutes away." He didn't feel good about doing this, but he felt a mild panic attack creeping up on him and being in company usually helped him with this.

" _Okay, I'll be right there."_

He contemplated still going a few steps further, but didn't have enough time to come up with a decision, as he heard noise coming from a side alley. As he pointed his flashlight in that direction, he saw a silhouette walking towards him. "LVPD, put your hands up!" he ordered, but the silhouette didn't do it. Instead, the person came closer until Greg realized who it was – Kyle Novak. "...Were you following me?"

"I had to," was all he responded as he took a few steps further.

"Stop right there!"

He didn't. "Do you realize what you did? I talked to her."

"Kyle, stay where you are. I'm not telling you again." Greg's voice was getting shaky as the fear grew stronger. "Please."

"They had an affair."

The CSI frowned. "...Your mother and your brother?"

"My **wife** and my half-brother!" he yelled, only standing a few feet away from Greg. The desperation was painfully visible in his face.

"...What?"

"Yeah. She was acting weird when I talked about him and my mother, so we got into talking…" He wiped tears from his face. "She knew who he was. She knew what he did to these men…"

"I-I… I'm sorry to hear that, Kyle," he said empathetically. Not only was he actually feeling bad for him, but he figured it was best not to be hostile towards him.

"You don't understand. Not only did she cheat on me… She knew who he was. She liked him, anyway. ...No. She liked him **because** of it. It turned her on that he was a dangerous sociopath. I mean… What kind of person feels that way?" He sobbed. "And my mother? Same." He laughed humorlessly. "Pretty much the same. She had an affair with him, too. How sick is that?" Kyle shook his head. "My whole life is a big messy lie. I mean, is anyone I know who they said they are? Are they all crazy sociopaths? Tell me!"

"Kyle… I don't know. I'm sorry about all this."

"If it weren't for you, I might've never found out."

"...T-This isn't my fault."

"I might've never found out without you," he said as he stared at Greg with piercing eyes. "But where do I go from here?"

"Look, don't panic, don't do anything rash… This is going to be okay."

"How could this ever be okay?" He laughed humorlessly, but his face quickly turned into sadness and despare. "There's no way this will ever be okay. I lost the two people I cared the most about. What's the point anymore?"

Greg's heart was already racing, but his heartbeat elevated more when he watched Kyle pull a gun out of his pocket. "...Please don't."

"I've lost everything, Greg. I… I can't go on like this. I wish I would've never come to meet you."

Tears were falling down Greg's face. "This isn't my fault, you know that."

"Hey, freeze!" officer Ramirez yelled from behind Greg as he was hurrying up to the two men.

"I apologize, Greg. I should've never come here." Kyle slowly lifted the hand he was holding the gun with.

"W-We can work this out, I promise. Please don't..." As he was begging for his life, Greg realized that it wasn't him Kyle was going to shoot – he wanted to commit suicide. "Kyle, stop!" As the muzzle of the gun was almost touching the man's head, Greg reached out to push Kyle's hand back. A shot was released, going off behind his head.

"No!" Kyle yelled, preparing to try again, but Greg wrestled him to the ground, trying to take the gun away from him.

Officer Ramirez had finally reached the two and helped Greg recover the gun and restrain Kyle Novak.

"Just let me go!" Kyle begged as he cried, lying on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back.


	8. Chapter 8

**Updating took a while, I hope you still enjoy the story :)**

* * *

Kyle Novak was sitting on the ground, his back resting against a wall in the dirty street he had just attempted suicide a few minutes ago. His empty eyes, red from crying, were staring into the distance.

Greg walked away from two officers he had been talking to about the incident to talk to the man. "I had them call an ambulance, it should be here any minute."

This broke Kyle's concentration. "Ambulance? Why? I'm not hurt. ...Did I hurt you?"

The CSI shook his head. "It's for you."

"Why? I thought I was arrested."

"Well, you are… for now. But you tried to kill yourself, you need a psych evaluation. And treatment."

"Huh."

Greg sighed deeply. "You really scared me, you know?"

"Come on, I never would've hurt you. You should know that."

"...How?"

"Because I'm not that kind of… Forget it, you don't understand."

He shook his head. "I don't."

"Because I look so much like my damned half-brother, right? You probably hate yourself right now."

"Why?" Greg frowned.

"Because you could've watched Neil blow his brains out. Don't tell me you wouldn't have enjoyed that?" He chuckled.

Greg did, too. "No, I wouldn't have." He sat down next to him. "I mean in theory, sure, but… This isn't something anyone would ever want to see. Also, you're not your brother. I know that."

"Well, you hate me because I look like him. My wife probably married me because I look like him. ...I'm not sure which is worse."

"I don't hate you. And your wife and mother… they're really messed up."

"Yeah well, maybe we'll get invited to the Jerry Springer show or something."

Both men chuckled before putting serious faces on again. "I'm so… so sorry about this all, Kyle."

"Don't be. I was serious when I said I wished I'd have never come here to meet you. You don't deserve being dragged into this big, psychotic mess."

"I got dragged into that by Neil, not you."

"Yeah well, I'm sorry for that, too." Although he was dehydrated from all the previous crying, his eyes teared up again. "I just don't know what to do now. I wish you would've just let me do it."

"You know… Neil killed so many people. I would've hated to see another one die because of him. I know first-hand that being one of his surviving victims isn't easy. But you'll manage."

They watched the paramedics arrive. "What's going to happen now?"

"They arrested you for attacking a member of law enforcement, but these charges will get dropped. The paramedics will make sure you arrive savely at the psych ward. They might give you something to calm you down, a doctor will later talk to you."

He nodded. "For how long will I have to stay there?"

Greg shrugged. "Until you get better, I suppose."

"I guess it doesn't matter. Nobody's waiting for me to come home, anyway."

Greg wanted to say something but was quite hesitant. He finally did it, anyway. "Can you do me a favor, Kyle?"

"Sure. Anything for the man who saved my miserable life. What is it?"

"Be honest."

"About what?"

"About everything. When they ask you how you're doing, how you're feeling, if you think about ending your life… be honest. Let them help you. Allow yourself to get help."

"What if I don't **want** any help?"

"You might not want it now, but there'll come a day you'll be glad you got it. And you deserve it. From all the Novak's I've encountered in my life, you're the only one who never did anything wrong, never wanted to hurt anybody. Why should you pay for your family's faults?"

He gave Greg the saddest smile as he cried. "Thanks..."

Greg got off the ground. "Let them take care of you, alright?" As he walked away from Kyle, he spotted Nick running towards him. He hurried up to reach him before Nick reached them. "Nick."

"Thank god you're alright!" Nick hugged him tightly. "I heard it through the radio, what happened?" While he was still hugging him, he saw Kyle Novak talk to the paramedics. "...What's **he** doing here?"

"It's alright." He could sense that Nick was about to go over there to talk to him. "No, leave him alone."

"...What's going on here, Greg? Is he the one who attacked you?"

"No. ...He's the one they were talking about, but he didn't attack me."

"...Let me just..." Nick made an attempt to walk past Greg and towards Kyle, but the younger CSI stopped him.

"Don't. Please. You wouldn't understand."

"Understand what? How the relationship between a stalker and his victims works?" he said quite snide.

Greg gave him a look. "It's nothing like that."

"No? Because I heard over the radio that a guy with a gun was threatening a CSI. Am I at the wrong scene?"

Greg sighed. "That's what it looked like. At first I thought it was like that, too. But he never threatened me and never intended to hurt me. He tried to commit suicide."

"Really. And why here? Why in front of you?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "The point is, he needs help."

"Fine, I get that. But he can get help without you being around."

Greg sighed. "He's in crisis, Nick. He just found out that his wife and mother both had affairs with Neil Novak."

"...What? Are you serious?"

He nodded. "That's what he said."

"That's messed up."

"It is." Greg watched the paramedics talk to Kyle. "I hope he finds a way to recover from this."


	9. Chapter 9

**Only one more chapter after this to go! Enjoy!**

* * *

"They're interrogating Kyle's mother and wife," Russell explained as he walked into the evidence room two hours later. Although he had offered Greg to go home early to digest what happened, he declined.

"Good," Greg replied as he looked up from some evidence.

"Do you think they have any information about any crimes Novak committed we don't already know about?"

Greg looked quite surprised that he got asked that question. "I don't know, maybe. There's still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding those cases, maybe they know something."

"Hopefully. Maybe this whole ordeal won't be in vain, after all." Russell smiled at him.

Greg smiled back. "Have you… have you heard back from the hospital yet? A-About… Kyle?"

"He arrived savely but doesn't want to talk to any doctors yet. Give him time, he needs to calm down a little first."

The younger CSI nodded. "I can't imagine what he's going through right now. I really hope he can recover from this."

Russell sighed as he grabbed a rolling chair to sit down next to Greg. "How about you?"

"Huh?"

"It has been a rough few days for you, too, right?"

The younger man nodded. "It still feels like some sort of wicked nightmare. So unreal."

"Don't forget that what Neil Novak did to you is in the past. These last few days have probably ripped open some of the old wounds he inflicted, but he can't injure you any further. It might not always feel that way, but it's in the past. **He's** in the past."

* * *

After quite an uplifting talk with his supervisor, Greg went to find Nick, who was sitting on the couch in the break room, reading a book. "Hey. You got a minute?"

"Sure." Nick put the book away. "What's up?"

"I, uh, I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

Greg smiled as he sighed. "For trusting me earlier when I told you Kyle wasn't dangerous."

Nick tried, but the fed-up, sulking look on his face wouldn't disappear. "I don't feel like I got a choice, really."

Greg sat down next to him. "Doesn't matter, it meant a lot to me. I know you don't trust him. It was nice to see you still trust me."

Nick's face softened a bit. "Of course I do."

"I really wish things would've turned out different, you know? I wonder what would've happened if I hadn't gotten myself involved with Kyle at all. You were against it from the start, maybe I should've trusted you more."

Nick shrugged. "You did what felt right to you. Two of Novak's accomplices were revealed. That's something, I guess."

"Sure. I'm not sure it's worth the trouble, though." Greg grabbed the book Nick had been reading and handed it to him. "I think I'm gonna head home now."

"If you're okay to wait another hour we can drive home together."

Greg shook his head. "Thanks, but… I should've left two hours ago." He smiled.

* * *

When Greg came home the same morning, Nick was already there. "Finally! Where the hell have you been? I was worried!"

Greg frowned as he looked at his phone. "Oh, sorry. I had to turn it off, must've forgotten to turn it back on."

"Do you have any idea what it felt like to come home and find you're not here? You left the lab two hours ago, where were you?"

"I stopped by Kyle. I'm sorry, I should've texted you, but it was kind of spontaneous. I didn't realize I took so long."

Nick calmed down. "It's alright, I guess… But what were you doing there?"

Greg slumped down on the couch. "Seeing how he was doing, trying to encourage him to accept the help they offer him."

"Did it work?" Nick sat down on the armchair next to the couch.

He shrugged. "He just sat there, staring into the distance. I'm not even sure he heard me. I think he's still in shock."

"Look, I realize you felt this was important but… I think it's best to leave the guy alone. He's gone through a lot and he'll need some time to recover. Seeing you might do him more harm."

Greg tapped his thumb on the couch's armrest nervously before building up the courage to say the following, "I needed to do this for myself, Nick. This might sound stupid, but… I needed to make sure he was in the hospital. I just can't shake this feeling… this paranoid feeling that he might be Neil in disguise, after all." He laughed humorlessly. "I needed to see for myself that he was in that hospital and that he wasn't Neil."

Nick looked at his friend quite surprised, but also pittying. "Did it help? Do you feel reassured?"

"No." Greg shook his head as his eyes watered. "This might sound horrible, but it was a soothing thought to know Neil was in a coma. I knew that as long as he was in that state, he couldn't come back to hurt me. Now his brother shows up. ...Neil came back to **haunt** me."

"...Greg, I… I don't know what to tell you to make you feel safe again."

"It's not your job to do that." Greg's sad eyes smiled at his friend. "These feelings will fade again, but for now… it feels like Neil attacked me a few days ago, not a few years ago."


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's the last chapter!**

 **I'll publish a new story soon, hope you'll enjoy it!**

 **Big love,**

 **pikapikatchu**

* * *

Almost two weeks after Kyle Novak had tried to commit suicide, Greg visited him in the hospital again. Nick was with him to support him. The happy and upbeat aura that had surrounded Kyle most of his life seemed to have faded completely, he looked as devastated as he felt, with empty eyes trying hard to concentrate on the two CSIs, his gaze drifting away several times during their conversation. "What's going to happen to my wife and mother?" he asked with a sad voice even before saying hello to the two. They were sitting in a living room like room in the mental hospital.

"Hey Kyle." Greg was a little surprised that this was his first question, but he decided to go ahead and answer it. "They couldn't connect your mother to any crimes so… she's out again."

"Huh. My wife?"

"She admitted to being present at some of the crime scenes. They're looking further into it, but it's likely she participated in at least some of the murders."

Kyle started to laugh. "Great. I was worried about her infidelity, now I have to worry about the fact that I'm married to a murderer."

"...We don't know that, yet. We don't know how she was involved or… if she really was."

"I guarantee you she was." He put his fingers through his hair. "I ignored the signs, I didn't want to see them. She was way too interested in serial killers, you know? I thought it was just a general interest, lots of people are fascinated by these criminals, right? I thought she just enjoyed documentaries about them, crime shows… that sort of thing." He shook his head. "I always thought the way she reacted to any tragic event, whether she heard it in the news or it impacted the lives of her friends… it seemed a little cold and disconnected."

"Kyle, nobody expects you to have known any sooner. People like her… They know how to trick people into thinking they're normal. She fooled everybody else around her, too."

Kyle wiped the tears away that kept rolling down his cheeks. "Why are you even here?"

"We wanted to see how you were doing. We asked your doctor… you didn't have any visitors and didn't call anybody since you've been admitted."

"So?"

"So… Do you have any friends you'd like me to contact for you?"

"What?" Kyle frowned. "Why would you want to do that?"

"I'm sure they'd want to know that..."

He interrupted the CSI. "No, I mean… Why would **you** want to do that? You don't owe me anything."

"...I-I know, I just… I worry about you."

He chuckled humorlessly. "You're a little messed up, huh? Why don't you just turn your back and act like you never met me? I don't deserve your help after what I did."

"What did you do?"

"I wanted to shoot my brains out in front of you, remember?" he said sarcastically.

"Hey, what the hell, man? He's trying to help you here." Nick gave him a look. He wasn't thrilled that Greg wanted to help this man, but he felt like he at least should appreciate it.

"And I just said I don't want his help. I don't deserve it."

"Kyle, come on. You know that's not true. I told you I didn't have any hard feelings. I worry about you. You can't do this alone, you need your friends."

"And tell them what? That I lost my damn mind after I found out my mother and wife were sociopaths that both slept with my stepbrother?"

"Tell them whatever you want. But accept their help if they offer it to you. You shouldn't have to go through this alone because your wife and mother betrayed you."

Kyle started crying. "Greg, I… I can't involve my friends. I dragged enough innocent people into this mess."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Nick finally chimed in. "I don't know you well enough to know the reasoning behind your catholic guilt trip, but… I'm sure you don't deserve to suffer because you were born into this messed up family."

He stared at Nick surprised. The whole time he got nothing but hostile vibes from him, but he was now showing genuine compassion. He got off his seat to walk to a sidetable behind him, bringing a notepad and pen back to the desk. He wrote down a phone number, then slipped it over the desk towards Greg. "This is my best friend Ryan's number. Just… don't tell him the whole story, just say that I… had a nervous breakdown or something."

Greg nodded as he put the paper in his pocket with a smile on his face. "I will."

* * *

Further investigation would later reveal that Kyle's wife helped dispose of two of Neil Novak's victim's bodies, as well as the fact that she not only helped pick out those two victims, but also watched them getting raped and murdered. Kyle's mother knew of most of the crimes Neil committed but had no active involvement in them. Kyle didn't want any contact to either two women anymore, but learned that he had some great friends who were willing to help him recover from the stressful few days. He was eventually released from the mental hospital but decided to abandon his home and move in with a friend until he got back on his feet. He said good-bye to Greg with a letter he sent to the lab, which the CSI was reading in the locker room.

Nick walked in with a stressed look on his face. "End of shift **finally** arrived. I'm in the mood for some good breakfast, are you in?" He smiled at his friend, but noticed he wasn't listening. "Hey, Greg, are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh, uhm, yeah. Breakfast sounds fine." He put the letter in his pocket.

"What were you reading there?"

"Oh, just… Kyle Novak sent me a letter. He's out of the hospital and moving to Carson City for a while."

Nick looked quite surprised. "Oh. Are you alright?"

"Sure."

"I mean, he's out and..."

Greg stopped him. "What I said about him or Neil Novak doesn't matter, I'm fine with this. I'm even happy for the guy."

"Are you sure?"

Greg smiled. "I **know** he's a good guy that doesn't have the slightest interest to hurt anybody, let alone me. What I said about him and his brother… that wasn't reason talking, it was PTSD."

Nick nodded. "I know. Still, those feelings are valid."

"Maybe. But what's important is that Kyle's in a better place and that I'm still save, right?" Greg smiled at him again. "Now, you said something about breakfast. What did you have in mind?"

Nick reciprocated that smile, even though he was left a bit worried about his friend. He decided to give him what he needed right now – some distraction. "Let me buy you breakfast at Jimmy's and tell you about who is probably the most annoying criminal I've encountered in my whole carreer, huh?"

* * *

Ende.


End file.
